Tobin's Sampler

Troy and Cori's nomination made me think about what I've done these past 2 years at MJ. It began as a place to share music I couldn't sell, a place to help establish the sort of collaborative environment I had always envisioned, and a place to explore new music software. It turned into something much more.

I have been trying to convince Simon to make SAMPLERS a separate music category (that doesn't include ratings, and now it see HE HAS! Thanks, Simon.

I hope you get a kick out of this retrospective I cooked up during my train commutes into The City. It is a testimony to all the folks who helped make some enjoyable music with me along the way. As I listen, I am getting ideas to make a few of these sound better...

Artwork: Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man, Salvador Dali, 1943.

Software:

GB1, GB2, DP, Live, Peak, Jam

Comments

said 4932 days ago (August 22nd, 2005)

emerging
The song art says it all -- a mortal trying to break out of
his/her mundane sphere of influences to transcend
limitations. Some bloodletting is inevitable. Sweet music
lifts us to higher planes and multiple dimensions. Forged
in a maelstrom of chaos and ghostly beats and rasps, we
move toward a place of harmony.

Pure art
both the music and the song art. Do you make these pictures yourself? I guess, this one shows mother earth giving birth to one more of us who live on and from what she gives... Not knowing if it will bring good or bad.

Its a great collage of music you've made for us. You've made some good ones through time. Strange how they all seem to fit so well together in this blend.

Congratulations with your award of MJer ot the week. I would have believed you to be the first to get this award. Absolutely deserved.

You bring a lot to this site with your positive constructive reviews and the interest you show in keeping this a living place on the web. I allways appreciate your comments on my music.

I'm not really...
Exactly. I hope SAMPLERS gets a separate category that automatically disables
voting. Just a place to distill archived songs in a pleasing compilation medley
for quick review. In fact, I wish anyone could submit songs with the ratings
function disabled, or the free downloading function (in case they want to sell the
track somewhere else). Hopefully, those changes will come in time. Thanks for
listening, tho, and your complimentary comments.

Getting the best out of everyone
I love the saxophone solos, you really get the best out of
who you are working with. There are some songs I didn't
recognize, so thank you for doing this. I am off to check
them out. The post 9/11 songs are so riveting, so good. You
really know how to write songs. I missed some of my
favorites though: Waitress (version 2) and If I Could Live Long
Enough.... But I like listening to whole songs better.

evolution
Putting together a sampler (as several macjams artists have done) seems like a good way to review one's work over a given period of time. I think setting up a new category for it makes good sense. If you work in more than one genre and put together a sampler - where to place it is a problem. But beyond that, the development of samplers represents an evolution of musical conception on the macjams site. It seems likely that more productions like this will be assembled in the future, so to set up a new category for it now recognizes and anticipates that development.

Some of those transitions, Tobin, are so smooth one doesn't realize there's been a shift made between songs.

A Tobin-Kabob
The transitions in this sampler are outstanding!! This is a great buffet
of your songs. (By the way, it's kind of weird and cool at the same time
to hear me at age 17 and 11 in your sampler...!) It's great to hear
some of your songs I haven't listened to in a while. Now I want to go
back through your songs and revisit them.

Thats fantastic
Thats quite a playlist there Tobin. A really good span of styles and all
of them executed and recorded very nicely... I'm especially impressed
with how many jazz recordings you've done, I know theres a lot of
work in recording instruments separately (multiple takes often
enough), but I havn't even ventured into to recording groups like that
yet. And although a lot of your music isn't my particular style, it
sounds like theres a number of I could learn for you. Great work... I'll
start listening to them separately now...

I keep forgetting what a treasure
... your music is! I must really come by and spend some more time. Heard the song "Morning Whispers" and it really reached me, but I could not comment there so I put it here in this wonderful sampler (over a thousand days after the last appreciative soul left his comment). So much music, so little time . . . sigh!
Keep on man, you touch what music is all about. Thanks,
Stephen

I am a professional musician, composer, playwright and director. I've led a charmed life. I'm married to fellow MJer Suzanne and MJer Twonicus is my son, who currently sings and writes for rock bands in the NYC, D.C. and Cleveland areas. My second s... [see more]